Heel protector



p i945 o. Gun-MANN 2,398,092

HEEL PROTECTOR Filed Deb. 23, 1944 INVENTOR. 0770 aurr/vm/v/v.

Patented Apr. 9, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HEEL PROTECTOR I Otto Guttmann, Forest Hills, N Y. Application December 23, 1944, Serial No. 569,618

4 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in protectors, and in particular for heels of footwear, especially to heel protectors of the Wedgeshaped type which are curved at their outer edge to conform with the contour of the remainder of the heel.

It is one of the objects of this invention to increase the wear resistance of heel protectors which were heretofore manufactured from steel material.

It is another object of the invention to increas the effectiveness of protector devices which may be affixed to the shoe at a location remote from the tread surface which is primarily subjected to wear.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a protector device for shoes which is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture and very durable during use.

It is still another object of the invention to provide protector means including a portion of high wear resistance adapted for being positioned in the tread surface of the heel of a shoe while the remainder of said protector means may be made of a material different from that of said portion and may receive the attaching means for holding said portion in desired position.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide a plurality of protector means which may be juxtapositioned on a carrier plate and may be shaped or built so as to correspond to and to overcome various degrees of wear to which the respective part of the shoe sole or heel is subjected.

Yet, another object of the present invention is to provide means by which a sufficiently high resiliency at the effective surface of the Protector device is brought about although said surface is made from an extremely hard and wear-resistant material.

These and other features and advantages of certain improvements, combinations and arrangements of parts of which the invention consists, will be hereinafter more fully described and with reference to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 shows in perspective a heel protector made in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the heel protector shown in Fig. 1 as applied to the heel of a shoe (partly shown).

Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate fragmentary plan and side elevational views of a modified heel protector.

Fig. 5 shows in perspective view the heel protector shown in Fig. 3 as applied to the heel of a shoe.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of Fig. 3.

According to this invention, the heel protector 20 comprises a base plate f9 preferably made from thin and resilient sheet steel which can be easily formed or drawn into the required shape, and a likewise relatively thin layer or stratum 22 of an exceedinglyhard and somewhat brittle material, such as cemented tungsten carbide, which is connected, e. g. by brazing, to said base plate to form a unitary structure therewith.

As shown in the embodiment of Figs. 1 and 2, metal plate I 9 has a wedge-like shape with an outer edge 29a curved correspondingly to the contour of the heel 2| of ashoe. Plate 19 carries on its upper surface a relatively thin overlay 22 or a plurality thereof, said overlay consisting of an extremely hard and therefore highly wear-resistant material, preferably compounded tungsten carbide. This improved heel protector can be held very small in thickness, which may correspond approximately to that of a razor blade, thereby resulting in a better appearance of the protector structure, providing a sufficiently high resiliency therefor and permitting of a simple gmmt and attachment to the heel or sole of a s oe.

Element 22 has a curved part which coincides with that of base plate or support l9. Base plate 19 projects in lateral direction beyond element 22 and provides flanges 23 and 24. These flanges are provided with several openings 25, 25, 25" to secure the protector to the heel by means of nails 26. The flanges 23, 24 in this instance, are inserted within recess or space 2 la positioned between leather layer 21 and upper heel layer 28, while the surface of element 22 may be substantially flush with the outer surface of upper heel layer 28 or may project somewhat therebeyond. To this end, upper layer 28 is provided with a wedge-shaped cut out into which fits said element 22.

As may be realized from Figs. 1 and 2 heel protector 22 rests on resilient base plate I9 through which the attaching means or nails 26 pass without impairing or weakening the effective surface of the relatively brittle, cemented tungsten carbide element.

Since the base plate [9 may be of a thickness of about .3 mm and less and layer 22 of about .4 to .8 mm, the recess 2m can be kept very small and limited. Recess 2| 0 can be easily shaped with a simple shaper or tool, thereby simplifying the preparation of the heel -for the insertion of the improved heel protector.

Only the very hard tungsten carbide element 22 will thus be exposed to Wear while impacts resulting from treading and walking are immediately transmitted to the resilient base plate [9 and to the heel 2| which, in turn, possesses a certain degree of elasticity whereby breakage of the brittle cemented tungsten carbide body or element 22 is effectively avoided.

The embodiment of the modified heel protector of Figs. 3 to 6 differs mainly from that of Fig. 1 in that the wear resistant element of the heel protector comprises several segments or small portions 32, 33, 34, side by side and fixedly connected to the single piece plate 30.

Base plate 30 may be very thin and may assume elliptical contour; its outer curvature corresponding to that of the heel 40 to which it may be applied. Plate 30 has small holes 3|, 3|, 3|" to allow fixing of the plate by means of nails 4| to the upper layer of heel 40. On this plate 30 are rigidly fixed, preferably by brazing, separate segments of wear resistant material, e. g., cemented tungsten carbide elements 32, 33 and 34, the outer edges of which are 'curved correspondingly to the heel contour.

These segments may be held in place in recesses 35, 36 and 3'! provided in edge zone 30a of plate 30 and separated from each other by ribs or projections 38 and 39. These ribs facilitate the exact location of said elements to each other. If desired, these elements may have varying heights (thickness), may consist of different materials and may be disposed to each other according to the various degrees of wear to which they may be subjected during use.

In this way, the impact strength of the wearresistant portion of the heel protector is further increased, and the mounting thereof and its connection are simplified for the reason that only the upper heel layer has to be shaped or provided with a relatively small cut out which may be performed with a simple shaping tool.

Experiments have shown that the hard and wear-resistant part or parts may only protrude beyond the heel surface to a practically negligible small degree thereby avoiding any tendency of tilting effect during walking.

Heels equipped with the new protector according to this invention have shown that they may be worn at least four to six times longer than those made from ordinary steel.

It is to be noted that the hard metal carbide (tungsten, molybdenum or other metallic elements of the chromium group, further tantalum, borium, etc.) from which the new element or elements are made, may be advantageously applied or bonded directly to other supports, such as leather, or may be used in connection with rubber heels, by molding or casting the element into the rubber material, before the latter is hardened and finished.

While there has been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to an embodiment thereof, it will be understood that various substitutions and changes in the form and details of the devices illustrated and their operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A heel protector provided with a base, and an overlay carried by a portion of said base and made of a material relatively harder than that of said base; said overlay comprising a stratum made of a hard metal carbide bonded to the surface of said base portion, the remainder of said base being flexible with respect to said portion carrying said overlay.

2. A heel protector provided with a base, and an overlay carried by a portion of said base and made of a material relatively harder than that of said base; said overlay comprising a stratum made of cemented tungsten carbide bonded to the surface of said base portion, the remainder of said base being flexible with respect to said portion carrying said overlay.

3. A protector device comprising a support, ribs incorporated in said support and providing partitions and stifiening means for saidsupport, and elements fixed to said support andseparated from each other by said ribs, the remainder of said support being provided with perforations for engagement with means for securing said protector to a part of a shoe, the total thickness of said support and elements being less than 1 mm.

4. A protector device comprising a support, ribs forming part of said support, and elements made of a hard metal carbide fixed to said support in side by side relation with said ribs therebetween, the remainder of said support being provided with perforations positioned remote from said elements and for engagement with means for securing said protector to a part of a shoe.

OTTO- GITI'I'MAN'N. 

